1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates to microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), and more particularly to a method of and device for displaying an end-of-life message on a MEMS display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) include micro mechanical elements, actuators, and electronics. Micromechanical elements may be created using deposition, etching, and or other micromachining processes that etch away parts of substrates and/or deposited material layers or that add layers to form electrical and electromechanical devices. One type of MEMS device is called an interferometric modulator. An interferometric modulator may comprise a pair of conductive plates, one or both of which may be transparent and/or reflective in whole or part and capable of relative motion upon application of an appropriate electrical signal. One plate may comprise a stationary layer deposited on a substrate, the other plate may comprise a metallic membrane separated from the stationary layer by an air gap. Such devices have a wide range of applications, and it would be beneficial in the art to utilize and/or modify the characteristics of these types of devices so that their features can be exploited in improving existing products and creating new products that have not yet been developed.
MEMS display devices have a reduced sensitivity to moisture and oxygen during both assembly and operation as compared to conventional organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays. Unlike OLEDs, the MEMS display can be packaged under ambient conditions and is functional when the relative humidity in the display package can be as high as 10%. The relaxed constraint for humidity sensitivity allows the MEMS display to be manipulated to generate an end-of-life image when subject to excessive moisture as opposed to total device failure in OLEDs.